The 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Adventures

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Audiobook Release: A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com


Available now: the audiobook from my second Great Lakes Adventure!




A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk
This audiobook will take you along the shores of all five Great Lakes. 

Midwest Book Review said this about the book:
“What emerges is an unmistakable reverence for the beauty and tremendous legacy of this ancient water trail....For a wonderful mind- and soul-enlarging experience, read A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk.”

And now with the audiobook, you can listen to this amazing journey of my hike along the edges of our Great Lakes read by ME!

Download the new audiobook HERE.
_______________________________________

The first installment in this trilogy is also available as an audiobook. 

Here's a review from a listener:
"A beach book with substance"
What made the experience of listening to A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach the most enjoyable?
I loved how the author would divert from the retelling of the journey to give facts about the history of each area, environmental concerns, and other information. It was done masterfully so as to not take away from the flow of the book. The narration was also wonderfully done.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved hearing about the history and the places. I also liked hearing about the current concerns due to industry's footprint in the area.

What about Loreen Niewenhuis’s performance did you like?

Her voice is soothing, and holds your interest. So much so that my four-year-old son insists on listening to the "lake book" at bedtime. It is hard to find a narrator that I enjoy and Loreen did a wonderful job narrating her own book. The only disappointment I have is that the rest of her Great Lakes treks are not available on Audible yet.

Any additional comments?

Read this book! I enjoyed it, and was impressed so much by Loreen's knowledge about environmental concerns and history in each area that I find myself hoping to steal away to one of her lectures next time we are visiting family in Michigan!

Purchase the audiobook HERE.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Post Viewed Most in 2013

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Thank you all for reading my blog! It has now surpassed 150,000 page views!


Here is the most viewed post from 2013. It's unusual because it is a "think piece" instead of my usual photo essay. This post explores  the way Amazon.com conducts business when it comes to selling books. And it urges readers to think about where they buy their books:

Amazon is Evil

If you know me or my books, if you've met up with me on the lakeshore or hiking path or while I'm touring with one of my books, our conversation may have touched on the future of books or the importance of indie bookstores in our discussion of the Great Lakes. As an adventurer who has explored over 2,000 miles of the Great Lakes shoreline, I love talking to people about these vast waters encircling my home state of Michigan. 


And as an author (and avid reader), "bookish" topics 
are important to me, too.

I am encouraged in these conversations as more and more people are coming to understand the value of our Great Lakes and the importance of independent bookstores. These lakes are essential to life in the Midwest (almost 40 million people get their drinking water from them), and indie bookstores are vital to keeping literature rich and diverse. 


The Great Lakes nurture life, recreation, commerce, industry.
Our indie bookstores nurture our communities, pay into the tax base, are gathering places for discussion, and play an important role in launching new writers. 

Am I pushing the parallel too far? I don't think so.

People ask me how I got my book to be on the shelves of Barnes & Noble stores (B&N). The answer is that indie bookstores sold so many copies (my first book was on the Heartland Indie Bestseller List for several weeks in 2011) that B&N began stocking it. B&N will stock what SELLS because the big chain is interested in SELLING. They call their workers BOOKSELLERS. There's nothing inherently wrong with that business model, but the primary focus of this model is to stock books that will sell, not seek to enrich the book world by what they stock.

Indie bookstores want to sell books, too, but the people who own and work at these stores also tend to LOVE books. 

I was at Saturn Booksellers in Gaylord, Michigan on my book tour this month, and doing book reviews to post in the store and online was part of the job description for the workers there. READING was part of the job. I've seen listings for postiions in indie bookstores that read, in part, "...candidate must be well read..." (in an ad for a job at Women & Children First Bookstore, Chicago). I've seen indie bookstore people greet patrons with exciting news about a new book they know the patron will love because they've had long conversations with that person about books. Book conversations. 

Now, I titled this essay "Amazon is Evil" and haven't even gotten around to talking about Amazon.com yet. Let me first say that all the good things that the indies give to their communities (and even B&N supplies on some level), Amazon does not provide. They will not donate books for a fundraiser in your community or pay into the tax base. They don't provide jobs (in general) near you. 

But beyond being contrary to the smart-headed "Buy Local Because the Money Stays in Your Community" philosophy, Amazon.com has pushed their business model toward one of being a predatory marketer ("scan the barcode in the store and see what Amazon sells it for" sales pitching), a bully toward suppliers including publishers (they delisted some publisher's books if the publisher dared to disagree with Amazon's discount pricing [article HERE in New York Times), and -- Amazon's most recent move -- they've purchased GoodReads.com (article HERE) in order to market directly to the reader using GoodReads data and to push readers toward the Kindle.


From the New York Times:  

Amazon.com Inc., with a market capitalization of $117.48 billion, is the largest company in the Internet and Catalog Retailing sector. 

I don't have a problem with big businesses, but I do have a problem with a big business that actively tries to crush small businesses or actively bullies other sectors of the publishing world.

The consumer has the real power in this equation, though, because it is YOUR dollar that these businesses are competing for. 

I released my new book, 
A 1,000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK
to select indie bookstores 8 weeks prior to putting it into distribution  (where Amazon.com can access and sell it). If you're going to purchase my book -- or any book -- I encourage you to think about the importance of indie bookstores.


Go HERE for a complete listing of indie stores that have the early release edition of my book.

And thank you for your 
time, thoughtful consideration, and comments.


Sunday, February 21, 2016

Connected Waters

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com



Rivers often run to lakes which, in turn, flow to our oceans. Our waters are connected. 
In order to have healthy waters, we need to care about the creek in our backyard, the mighty river flowing through a major city, the intertwined Great Lakes, and our oceans.





Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Post Viewed Most in 2014

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Thank you all for reading my blog! It has now surpassed 150,000 page views!

Here is the most-viewed post from 2014 featuring a unique B&B in the beautiful 
Les Cheneaux Islands:

Dancing Waters B&B

Jim and Betty Struble have life figured out.

Jim and Betty Struble

They own the Dancing Waters Bed & Breakfast 

located on Hill Island which is part of the 
beautiful Les Cheneaux archipelago.  

This collection of Islands snugs up against Michigan's Upper Peninsula about ten miles 
east of Mackinac Island.


This is a watery place that invites boats of all sorts to come and play in these sheltered passages. The Struble's B&B is located on the southern point of Hill Island, so watery views abound.

View from the table that Jim made


The Lakeview Room

I had the "Lakeview Room," but I renamed it the "Peeping Deer Room" because I awoke one morning to a deer looking in my window!

Perfect view

 I brought my Advanced Elements kayak with me and launched it from the B&B's dock. 
Talk about convenient!

I launched my kayak from their boathouse dock


Dancing Waters B&B is comfortable, the owners incredibly knowledgeable about the area, and Betty makes her own breads!


Betty's bread is rising...


Two of the finished loaves (Cherry Walnut and Pecan Apricot!)


The view is breathtaking



Deer visit all day long

Jim is building an addition to the B&B and he has a grand vision for the future. He is a builder and a master woodworker. 

A spiral staircase with a single, central cedar tree trunk will one day grace the outside of the structure.

Jim's woodworking shop


Jim is crafting every aspect of the addition, and the work is impressive. When I found out that he is doing most of it by himself, I was astonished. 

Top of the World!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Post Viewed Most in 2015

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Thank you all for reading my blog! It has now surpassed 150,000 page views!

Here is the most viewed post from 2015:

I've been on "Stateside" several times, interviewed by Cynthia Canty. 

It's always an incisive and enjoyable conversation.

This time, I remembered to get a photo at the studio:

In studio with the host of "Stateside"

A big thank you to Cynthia and her staff at 
Michigan Radio!
Stream the interview HERE.